Know It All - The Industry - IT Remains a Bright Spot in Gloomy Jobs Data

"Once again, IT employment rose in the face of otherwise horrible job numbers. Today's release of November statistics from the BLS shows a jump of 2.7% in computer systems design and related services. Management and technical consulting services, meanwhile, rose 1.7%."

Know It All - The Industry - IT Remains a Bright Spot in Gloomy Jobs Data

After the Crash: How Software Models Doomed the Markets: Scientific American

If Hollywood makes a movie about the worst financial crisis since the Great De­­pres­­sion, a basement room in a government building in Washington will serve as the setting for a key scene. There investment bankers from the largest institutions pleaded successfully with Securities and Ex­­change Commission (SEC) officials during a short meeting in 2004 to lift a rule specifying debt limits and capital reserves needed for a rainy day. This decision, a real event described in the New York Times, freed billions to invest in complex mortgage-backed securities and derivatives that helped to bring about the financial meltdown in September.In the script, the next scene will be the one in which number-savvy specialists that Wall Street has come to know as quants consult with their superiors about implementing the regulatory change. These lapsed physicists and mathematical virtuosos were the ones who both invented these oblique securities and created software models that supposedly measured the risk a firm would incur by holding them in its portfolio. Without the formal requirement to maintain debt ceilings and capital reserves, the commission had freed these firms to police themselves using risk tools crafted by cadres of quants.

After the Crash: How Software Models Doomed the Markets: Scientific American

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Panel urges Obama to consider hacker-response plan - washingtonpost.com

"Responding to a cyber attack is a tough issue," said James Lewis of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think-tank that organized the commission. "Do operators respond with law enforcement, espionage or military actions? The guidelines are really unclear. The rules designed in the 1980s are slow, and the Internet is fast."

Panel urges Obama to consider hacker-response plan - washingtonpost.com

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Obama Vows Broadband Expansion in Recovery Plan - 12/7/2008 6:11:00 PM - Broadcasting & Cable

"Most industry players concede that there needs to be greater stimulus for broadband rollout, but there are disagreements over how relevant the rankings are given that some of the leading countries are smaller and easier to wire. They also disagree on the best way to close the gap."

Obama Vows Broadband Expansion in Recovery Plan - 12/7/2008 6:11:00 PM - Broadcasting & Cable

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The Other Paul Volcker - washingtonpost.com

"Volcker is not just an expert in economic turnarounds, however. He is also the acknowledged elder statesman of public service reform. The son of a city manager from Teaneck, New Jersey Volcker was raised to believe that public service is a noble calling and followed through in what has been a classic "in-and-outer" career."

The Other Paul Volcker - washingtonpost.com

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Web 2.0 Security: 3 Key Questions - Security

Hoping to reduce its promotional costs and sell more slow-moving products, an online sports retailer added an inexpensive ad widget to its site, pushing the latest promotions to desktops based on the user’s browsing habits. Because they neglected the proper due diligence, the retailer didn’t discover that the provider of the ad widget also installed a key logger. Now when the unsuspecting user conducts transactions on any Web site, the key logger captures the user’s sensitive information, which is then sold in the underground market and exploited by crooks.

Web 2.0 Security: 3 Key Questions - Security

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Obama to Announce Choice of Richardson for Commerce Secretary - washingtonpost.com

"The job will add to an already lengthy Washington résumé for Richardson that includes stints as secretary of energy and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations during President Bill Clinton's administration, as well as nearly two decades as a congressman representing New Mexico. He left the nation's capital in 2002 to run for governor of New Mexico and was reelected with 69 percent of the vote four years later."

Obama to Announce Choice of Richardson for Commerce Secretary - washingtonpost.com

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Obama Names Innovation Team

"Assembling a team of telecom lawyers with deep roots at the FCC Federal Communications Commission, technology industry leaders, academics, financial experts and former government officials, President-elect Barack Obama named his technology, innovation and government policy reform working group Nov. 25."

Obama Names Innovation Team

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Free Web Plan Being Pushed by FCC Head - WSJ.com

"The free Internet plan is the most controversial issue the agency will tackle in December. Mr. Martin shelved plans to consider a wider variety of sticky issues pending at the agency, including a request by the Hollywood studios to hobble TVs and set-top boxes so studios can offer copy-protected theatrical releases sooner."

Free Web Plan Being Pushed by FCC Head - WSJ.com

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Gore: Don't Count On Magic | Newsweek Future Of Energy | Newsweek.com

We should tax what we burn, not what we earn.

Gore: Don't Count On Magic | Newsweek Future Of Energy | Newsweek.com

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Hawaiian Telcom files for bankruptcy protection - Forbes.com

Hawaiian Telcom postponed a $26 million interest payment in November and was in the midst of a 30-day grace period, which ended Monday. Hawaiian Telecom is carrying more than $1 billion in debt, the result of financing that was arranged three years ago for the company's $1.6 billion sale to Carlyle Group, a private-equity firm based in Washington, D.C.

Hawaiian Telcom files for bankruptcy protection - Forbes.com

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A Market-Oriented Economic Team - washingtonpost.com

President-elect Barack Obama is assembling a deeply experienced team of top economic advisers whose key members firmly believe that limited government spending combined with free markets can create lasting prosperity.

A Market-Oriented Economic Team - washingtonpost.com

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